Today, I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Are you bored? Does your Bible reading seem dry? Are your prayers bouncing off the wall? Are you going to church and feel like it's status quo, nothing's really happening, and you're simply not experiencing the power and the presence of Christ in your life?
Well, that's where you're at. You tuned in on the right time on the right day because we're going to talk about how you can experience the supernatural power of Christ. Stay with me. If you're longing for real lasting life change but feel like you just can't get there, this message is for you. In Chip Series Free at Last, How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle, we're exploring where the power to change actually comes from.
and today Chip gets practical. I'm Dave Druy, your host here on Living on the Edge, with today's message titled, Where Do We Get the Power to Change? Before we dive in, remember all of these messages can be revisited anytime at livingonthege.org.
Well now here's Chip Ingram with today's lesson.
So the question is, how did Jesus conquer sin? And how does that work practically in everyday life? The Apostle Paul says it's going to be a struggle.
Now, verse seven through ten of Ephesians four will explain. How it happens. But here's what I want you to get. There are three Undeniable facts. and three principles.
that out of this passage will help you and me. Understand how to deal with the struggle of sin and tap into the power that we already possess. Implication number one, fact is Christ is a conquering victor over sin, death, and Satan. The power to live a new life was made possible by his death and resurrection. Colossians 2, 13 through 15.
Notice how Paul in this passage talks about the victory, talks about the conquering of evil. He says, He made you speaking to the Colossian church alive together with him. How? having forgiven all your transgressions, having nailed it to the cross, And then notice this addition. And having disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
And he's speaking of this event that we just talked about. The principle is life change always begins with the truth. It's objective. And here's three truths that come out of this. Number one, you are free.
Sin's power has been broken. Write that in your notes. I am free. Number two, you are forgiven. And third, you are secure.
Satan does not have power over you anymore. You can give in to sin, you can give in to temptation, you can be fearful of demonic spirits, but you're not a slave to it. You have a choice. You have power, you have access. Truth.
That's the beginning. of real Life change. Fact number two. We become co-partakers of Christ's victory over sin, death, and Satan the moment we receive Christ as our personal Savior by faith. Remember what I said?
Whatever is true. of Jesus. The teaching of the New Testament and the Bible, it's true of you. This gets a little bit vague and hard to understand. I've got a picture that will help you.
But I want you, if you will, turn to Romans chapter 6. What I'm going to share is so radical even in that day. Because God is going to say that the grace of God is so overwhelming, no matter where you are, how far you are, however deep the sin is, grace abounds still more.
So much so that people were bending the truth and they started saying, hey, you know something? This New Testament stuff is really great. If God gives more grace if you sin more, why don't we just start sinning more? Chapter 6 opens up with an emphatic, that is not at all an option. He says, What shall we say then?
Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means.
Now, follow carefully, this is the key. We died to sin, how then can we live in it any longer? Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism and death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Now follow along carefully. If we had been united with him like this in his death, We will certainly be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be done away. that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died is freed from sin.
Now if we died with Christ, we believe we'll also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once and for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God in the same way.
Application. Count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. And then he begins to explain what that is and how to do that. And we'll discuss that as we go along in this process. You will learn how to.
count yourself dead to sin and how to present your members by faith. What the Bible teaches in Romans chapter 6. What Paul is explaining in verses 7 through 10 of Ephesians chapter 4 is that Christ. died in your place. He descended to the lower parts of the earth.
He declared victory over the wicked. He proclaimed new life. He rose from the dead. He's conquered sin. Death and Satan, and the moment that you believe and trust in him.
you become a co-partaker And so what you see is When God the Father sees you, remember what you're justified? When God sees you and you need to get this. You need to get this in your intellect and get it into your heart. God declared you righteous based on His work, and when He looks at you, Despite your experiential times of sin, he sees you as righteous, as forgiven, as through the lens of the blood of his son, as precious, as a child, as adopted. You'll never be more loved than you are today, and you're connected to him forever.
Now in this journey of sanctification, how do I live out what's true of me? He says this is how it works. Whatever is true of him is now true of you. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, and this life I now live, I live by faith. In the Son of God.
Who loves me? and gave himself for me. It's not religious activity. It's not a formula. It's not my self-effort of trying hard.
It's understanding the bedrock truth that when you trusted Christ, you're connected to Him for all eternity.
So principle number one, life change begins with the truth. Principle number two, we must act. on the truth for life change to occur. Life change demands that we act on the truth. Do you know what acting on the truth is called in the Bible?
Faith. Faith, that's what it is.
Now, faith isn't a feeling. Faith isn't some ooey-gooey thought. Faith is believing what God has said to the point of acting on it, whether I feel like it or not. Let me say that again, because sometimes I think we think, well, I don't have enough faith. You don't have to feel anything.
Faith Is believing what God has said to the point I act on it whether I feel like it or not. God says that sexual purity is my will for this relationship. I don't feel like that, maybe in a relationship. And I say, you know what? I'm gonna act on that, and the moment I act, and make provision to be sexually pure, God gives grace.
And then he does a lot of wonderful things in that relationship that sin block. Faith says, I'm going to prioritize the first portion of my life, my future, my priorities, and my relationships by what God says. I don't always feel like loving my wife. I don't always feel like turning off the remote and walking over and dealing with one of my kids. I don't always feel like doing it, but when by faith I trust, The other side of faith is the moment I take that step, it's obedience and I get grace.
That's how transformation occurs. Left to myself, I don't do very well.
So there's a community of people who, their gifts and their love and their encouragement helped me on my walk. Because remember, what did we learn about the little babies when they walk? Step, step, step, great men. Right? And we're all going to keep falling.
And we have a heavenly father who understands. who says Look. That's who you really are. My dad did not grow up as a Christian. And I had been a Christian a year.
And you know, sometimes when God's changing you, it's so close to you, you don't see how it really works. And all I knew was what I just shared with you. About what Christ had done. I trusted him in 1972. I went away to college, and there was a bricklayer who was a godly man who came up and taught me how to get in the Bible for myself.
And so I started reading the Bible in the mornings, and I memorized just a few verses. And I got in a small group and did some Bible study. And little by little, just the old was passing away and new had come, but I had a long way to go. And I came home that summer, and after about three weeks, my dad said, What happened to you?
So, what do you mean? He said, What happened to you? I said, I mean, what do you mean what happened to me? There's a piece about you I can't understand. And I said, well, Dad, I...
You know, we went to church, but we didn't believe the Bible and we didn't know about a personal relationship to God, so it was hard to say. I said, Well, I put my faith in Christ. and I have a new relationship with God.
So he said, well, how'd you get it? And honestly, I'd only, this is not really good news for the people that were helping me, I suppose. I said, I don't know. Yeah. You know?
And so eventually I just said, well, the one key, I said, I started reading the Bible. And so, you know, you got an ex-marine, okay. That's how you do it. He got up at five every morning, read the Bible for a year, almost. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then finally, like six months into it, he goes, Do these guys not know the story? They keep telling the same story over and over. I had to say, well, actually, Dad, you know, Mark's writing to the Romans and Luke to the Greeks, and it's sort of a composite picture. After six months, my dad comes to me and I mean, he'd been in religious all his life, and in his own words, he would say, I went to church whether I was drunk or not.
So he's a recovering alcoholic who, because he knew he was going to lose his marriage, stopped drinking a year earlier. And he wants to change and doesn't know how. His kid comes home and there's something different. His kid can't explain even. You know, I wish I could have said, oh, dad, it's a substitutionary work of Christ.
He died in your place on the cross, rose from the dead. What he wants to do by faith, turn to him. I couldn't explain it. And so he just, but here's the point. Truth.
Life change begins with the truth. He got in the Bible. Um You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll continue the lesson in a moment. But while you're with us, did you know that Chip's teaching is also available on YouTube? The Living on the Edge channel has full video series, short form clips, and a growing library of content you can watch any time.
Check out Chip's other series like Sacred Strongholds, exploring the lies we believe that quietly destroy the lives we love. Just search Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram on YouTube and hit subscribe so you never miss what's new.
Well now here's Chip. I'll tell you what the people that I meet and talk to in terms of their journey with God, I would much rather have someone read the Bible with me and have coffee and might put my arm around them as a friend and let's just talk about what this is like for months as opposed to someone feeling some quick moment of guilt and praying a quick prayer. Because I will tell you, God's word never returns void. After six months, he says to me, You know something? I don't know what this whole deal is you have, but it has something to do with faith.
I mean, here's a guy that's never read the Bible. It's faith. And I said, Dad, I think you're right. He says, So, what do I do? I said, I don't know.
You know, so he goes another nine months or so, and I go off to school, and I get a call a little bit later. He said, I got it. I got it. I said, What do you mean you got it? I'm a Christian now.
I said, Really? What happened, Dad? He said, Well, I knew it was about faith. I kept reading, reading, reading, and I don't know where it came from, but I was walking by my dresser, and there was a little pamphlet called The Four Spiritual Laws. I read it, it had all the stuff I've been reading: God has a plan for your life.
What separates you from God is your sin. Christ died in your place. You need to trust Him by faith. And it had a little prayer. And it was like, wow, so that's how you do it.
And he says, what I did is I got down right on my bed and I said, God, I have killed thousands and thousands and thousands of people and I've lived with nightmares and shame all my life. But I received the blood of Jesus to forgive me right now at this moment. And in my dad's late 50s, he came to Christ. Life change begins with the truth. Life change demands that we act on the truth by faith.
Let me give you the greatest example of acting on the truth. At the very bottom, I put a little chart, if you will. And I put a verse. Because it's truth. And I want you to get to act on it if that's where you're at.
The truth is, Romans 6:23, it says, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now, what I've put there is a picture of kind of like two cliffs, if you will. There's us on this side. And there's God on this side. And when you look at that, on the us side, it says the wages. What are wages?
It's what you earn, right? It's what you get for what you do. The wages of our sin, there's this chasm, like in Luke 16. There's this chasm that separates us from God forever. But The free gift of God.
Through Jesus you have eternal life.
So what you need to do is you need to pull your pen out. And I want you to make a bridge because Jesus is the bridge to life.
So make a little bridge, okay? And once you make the horizontal line, why don't you make it a really cool, nifty bridge and put a vertical line? And if you put a vertical line and a horizontal line, what do you have there? You got a cross.
Now here, we're right back to what Jesus said. Jesus said, the day will come when I'm going to speak to all that are dead. One day all of us will be dead. And one day Jesus will return. And they said, truly, truly, or verily, verily, it's just for emphasis, this is really important.
I say to all of you, Those of you who hear My word. and believe on him who sent me. has present tense eternal life.
So you are looking at truth. The truth is there's a fact. That the eternal Son of God, fully man, fully God, walked upon the earth, lived a perfect life. He built a bridge. And he paid for the wages of your sin, and he atoned, or he's covering, death.
And it's by grace, it's a complete free gift. And if by faith you receive the free gift, you move from this side of the bridge to the other side. And according to Jesus, it means you hear his word. And then you believe. And when you do that, The gift of eternal life.
You're taken from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. You're free? You're forgiven. and you're secure. There's some of you today that this is the most wonderful day in your life ever.
Today is better than the day that you were born. Because today is the day that you will be born a second time or be born spiritually. Jesus said, physical life requires a physical birth, spiritual life requires a spiritual birth. If you have never by faith Not come to church, not try to be a moral person, not try to read the Bible a little bit. I'm not talking about giving to the United Way.
I'm not talking about being religious. If you have never by faith said, I'm going to trust in the objective facts of what Christ did in my place, then right now in your seat, the greatest thing you could do is cry out to God. Whether you feel or not feel is to say your sin separates you from God for all eternity. And God's word says his desire is that not one person would perish. And so he's offered you a free gift, and so you, by faith, say, I'm going to trust in Christ.
I want to be united to Him. Will you please forgive me right now? I'm sorry for my sin. I turn from it, it's called repentance, and I want to receive right now eternal life. You can pray that in your seat right now at this moment and God will hear.
Jesus came to give you that today. Fact number one. His death and resurrection is the key. Life change always begins with the truth. Fact number two, you become a co-partaker when you receive Christ personally.
Principle number two is life change demands that we act on the truth. Remember when the conquering, victor, general, or king. When he was declaring his victory, remember, there's the military. He humiliates his foes, but remember what's in the back, the spoils. He gave gifts to everybody.
He gave gifts of what was conquered.
So every time people got a gift, they were reminded what? The love of their king and the victory that they shared in. Fact number three: every believer is given a spiritual gift. A supernatural enabling at the moment of salvation for two reasons. Every believer.
What does it mean? He gave gifts to men. Reason number one: to remind us that life change occurs on the basis of grace. not self-effort. When that lady's milking that cow, when that other lady sees the bracelet, when the blacksmith, when he came through town, he said, hey, wow, here, you can have a donkey and two camels.
When he's taking care of those animals, he's reminded, my king won a great victory. The evidence and reminder that I was given this gift. Is my king's work for me? And that's the imagery. Can you imagine what would happen if every time you used your spiritual gift, if you really discovered what it was, and you realized you have this supernatural, sacred endowment that you use to get to love people in a supernatural way, that it would remind you it's a gift.
Your salvation is a gift. Mm-hmm. The second reason is to be empowered as other-centered agents of grace who supply what others need. to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. Remember, if life change happens in community, sort of in that spiritual cocoon.
Well I was pretty honest with you. This last week, I wasn't humble and gentle and patient and bearing with and making every effort all the time. I had a lot of the right side. And you know what I need? To learn to be humble, I need people that put me first.
I need people that will be patient with me. I need people that won't be critical and judgmental, that will be grace-filled and loving and kind. Because you know what happens? Whoever you're around, you become like. And when the Jesus inside of you and the Jesus inside of me, as we do life together from the heart honestly, the Spirit of God will take your gifts and meet my needs and my gifts to meet your needs.
And so you'll have wisdom and I'll make a great decision to experience God. Or I'll really blow it and I'll feel ashamed and down on myself and beat myself up and the enemy will say, see, Ingram, you're a lousy stinking. And you'll have the gift of mercy. And you'll say, no, no, no, no, no, Chip. That's your experience.
This is who you are. God loves you. The world's not over. And so it gives us power. As we use our gifts with one another, The principle is life change is both a gift and a responsibility.
It's a gift. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. In a message called Where Do We Get the Power to Change? It's part of Chip's latest series, Free at Last: How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle.
Well, Chip has a final word for us in just a moment. Life change is both a gift and a responsibility. That's where Chip landed today. And it's the thread running through every page of his book, Yes, You Really Can Change. It's honest, hopeful, and written for anyone who genuinely wants their faith to stop being something they know and start being something they actually live.
And for a limited time, we're including a second copy with every order, one to keep, one to give to someone who's ready to take this step with you.
So get your copy of Yes, You Really Can Change and a copy for someone you know by going online to livingonthege.org slash offers. If Living on the Edge is making a difference in your life, we'd love your help to keep it going. Every gift, whatever the amount, goes directly toward reaching more people with this kind of practical biblical teaching. Give online at livingonthege.org or by phone at 888-333-6003. You can also reach us by mail at livingonthegepox.com.
The other thing is that the family is a little bit of a fairly good idea. And every message in this series will also be available on the Living on the Edge podcast. Subscribe so you can get each message downloaded automatically every day. And the Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast has every sermon in full, unedited from start to finish. Find it wherever you listen.
Well, now here's Chip. For the last two days, we've been talking about how to experience Christ's resurrection power in our lives. There's three transformational principles we've dealt with. Number one, life change always begins with the truth. Number two, life change demands that we act on the truth.
And number three, life change is both a gift and a responsibility. Today, as I begin to apply that, I talked about the evidence of walking by faith and God having the first portion of our money and the first portion of our time. And then I talked about. that very sensitive area of forgiveness. And I want to camp there.
I want to stop there. I sense that maybe many of you listening to my voice. have a issue with forgiveness. I can't imagine how many people with ex mates, bad bosses, rebellious kids, abusive parents, have unforgiveness in your heart and your life that is quenching the power of God. The application today is to release them, forgive them.
It's not a feeling, it's a choice, it's a decision. And I'm going to call you before God right now to act on the truth that you know. They don't deserve it. They have hurt you. but you release them, you entrust them to God's justice, and you make a commitment that you will not bring up in your mind negative, destructive thoughts, or you will not say negative, destructive things about Him.
You let it go. You forgive. And then I want to encourage you that to seal that deal, begin today praying for them, asking God to encourage them and help them and literally even bless them. Remember those words of Jesus? Bless those who persecute you?
Who do you need to forgive? Do it today. That's the end of today's program. Join us next time as we continue our series, Free at Last: How to Break Out of a Destructive Lifestyle. That's next time with Chip Ingram on Living on the Edge.
Wow. Today's program is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge. Uh
